Top 32 Highest-Paid Players in Several Sports

The U.S. Open tennis singles champions will win $3 million as part of an event-record $38.3 million purse. But how much money is distributed to the rest of the players? Tennis has one of the largest gaps in its top players' pay. The highest-paid male tennis star,
Novak Djokovic, will make almost 10 times more than
32nd-highest paid Fernando Verdasco.

In this view, the scales have been adjusted so each player's salary is shown as a percentage of the highest earner in the sport. This makes it easier to compare sports with vastly different earning potential. Among these sports, tennis has the largest difference between its top-paid players and its 32nd-paid player.

Note: All figures as of Aug. 22, 2014. Players on major team sports receive salaries while athletes in individual sports are paid by winnings. Figures include direct earnings and don’t include sponsorships. Individual winnings are also year-to-date, while team salaries are for the full year.

From Baseball to Bowling: How Players Compare

Several sports, including those shown above, are broken down below, showing how the highest-paid player compares with the 32nd highest-paid player in sports ranging from hockey to bull riding.

Note: Each chart is shown on its own scale so lower-paid sports are still visible.

Note: An earlier version of this graphic incorrectly referred to the National Football League as the National Football Association. Also, it incorrectly used a photo of Agnieszka Radwańska instead of Casey Dellacqua. This version has been corrected. (Aug. 26, 2014)